The Opelousas courier., 1887-01-22
HUMAN HAIR.
A DEALER TALKS ABOUT THE
TRANsPLANTED ARTICLE.
A Peculiar Business-Cost of Human
Hair-Where 1t is Procured
Preparing the Hair
for the Market.

Preparing n HAIR
for the Market.
"Times are dull nowadays" responded
the couture artist, in reply to . repor
~torial inquiry the other day. "You see
ours is q peculiar business anyhow. we
are the most abiect slaves to fashion thai
ever lived. Just now it's ebb tide with
us. Coiffures are worn high, and a Wo-
man who hasn't got enough hair to 0
the top of hei head is in q pretty bad nix
indeed. Consequently not much false
hair is required. Of course, there is
steady demand for standard articles,
which are to take the place OF the be-
reavements of nature, but what / mean
to say is that the good old days when a
woman walked into my store and chose
her winter or her summer articles OF hair
apparel just as she would choose her
winters cloak are past and gone!7 and
the artist heaved a sigh which expressed
regretful remonstrances.
'sWhat does human hair cost?'
"Depends altogether upon the length
and the shade. Length, of course, is
the principal item. For instance, an
ounce OF q certain kind eight inches long
might only be worth fifty cents, while an
ounce tress thirty-six inches long OF the
same quality would be worth SIS. The
average article is generally not more
than thirty-six inches long. If it is, 1T
commands fancy prices. But the usual
length is but eighteen or twenty inches.
| The color is the other important item.
This is, of. course dependent upon
| scarcity. The ordinary common colors
that one sees every day of III are the
cheapest; but you take some of the un-
usual shades, such as gray, pale and deli
cate shades of auburn, and you have got
to pay roundly for them. Why3 Because
they are hard to get and the market is
never fully supplied. White and gray
are the most expensive
It's this because old age is vain?"
s.Partly for this reason, but principally
because old age, which possesses a hand
some head of hair, is loathe to part with
it except at a very high figure. See that
tress of brown hair in the Window Well,
/ will sell it for $45, because it is a COM.
mon shade; but that white one in the
corner, I could not part with it for less
than $225-same size though, you see."
"Where is the hair procured?'
sFrom everywhere. But it is gathered
principally in Germany, France, Russia,
Holland and Italy. The light blonde
shades as a general rule come from North
Germany and Holland, while the darker
colors all come from the south of France
aud Italy. The Southern climate also
produces a finer and glossier variety. 1t
is collected mostly by itinerant peddlers,
who visit the country fairs and induce
some peasant maiden to part with her
beautiful tresses for a piece of bright cal
leo or some gaudy bauble. In other
places, where the value of human hair is
appreciated, the girls and women of the
peasant class are regularly SHARED like
sheep. In Brittany, which is recogni ed
as the country which produces the hair
of the finest texture in the world, the
shearing of the women is carried on as q
regular industrys Last year I saw that
the ext ortation of hair from France was
about 30, 900 pounds, at an estimated
value of 81, 900, 030. Of course in the
foreign markets it is worth much more.
England imports about 20, 1000 pounds of
hair a year alone, and America three
years ago imported nearly ST. 900, 900
worth; and I can assure you San Fran
cisco is not behind the proportion in her
purchase
IT'S not some preparation needed be-
fore the hair is placed on the market for
sale?'
'sOh, yes, of course. In Paris, where
are several large ~hair-dealers to
whom the peddlers sell their collections,
the sorting, cleaning aud preparation of
hair forms an important industry. You
see, hair from all parts of the world and
Of all shades, compilations, lengths and
previous conditions Of servitude are
brought to these hair marts and laid out.
The women, whose powers of distin
color are exceptionally acute,
go over them, matching all the different
colors of the same texture, no matter
where they may have come from. These
are also matched as to length,
until finally the hair is divided up into
OTIS OF precisely the same kind. Now,
see here, " he said, taking down q tress
rom the window. 'syou might perhaps
that all this was grown on one
mead. That is nonsense. I would not
De surprised, if every hair could tell the
story of its origin, that we would find
representatives from every Face on the
globe. I see some Chinese representa-
ives hero. You see Chinese hair has
oeen used to some extent. It is, of course, i
Very coarse and straight, but in Paris it
8 split to a fine quality and sub ected to
preparation to make it glossy. Then
gain hair is dyed TO certain specified !,
hades. A great portion of all the white
lair, to tell you a professional secret, is
manufactured by bleaching. But all of !
hese preparations are virtual failures. !,
nd nothing is so good as the genuine :
free from preparation, although it
more costly. o-SGn Francisco Gail.
Nnfd an1 Hrnhaaon cransnn